I hosted my daughter's 5th birthday party at Kinetic Ninja Warrior (KNW) in February 2023, and it…read morewas an absolute blast! The kids had so much fun, and my daughter loved every minute of it. The party was well-organized and truly enjoyable. However, my positive experience took a nosedive when I signed up my daughters, aged 5 and 3.5, for the summer camp for a week in August.
While the birthday party was exceptional, my experience with guidance on the summer camp was frustrating and disappointing. I signed up my daughters in February, right after the birthday party, and expected to receive detailed information and instructions in a timely manner prior to camp starting. Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts to contact KNW for guidance, I received no response until just two business days before the camp was scheduled to begin.
The lack of communication and delayed responses made it impossible for me to prepare adequately. I was told repeatedly that I would receive an email with the necessary information, but it never arrived until after I requested a refund. To my surprise, once they finally sent the e-mail (two business days before camp started), the information was generic and not specific to the week my kids were attending. I was really confused as to why they couldn't have just sent me that e-mail when I requested it weeks earlier......or the three or four requests after that.
Adding to my frustration, I discovered on the website that I needed to complete health forms for my 3.5-year-old and obtain permission from her doctor to participate. This critical information was not brought to my attention earlier, despite my efforts to seek clarification from KNW on multiple occasions and I was out of time to action it.
The response from the camp director was disappointing, showing a lack of empathy and accountability for their team's failure to guide me properly. Instead of acknowledging the issue, the director suggested I should have relied on a flyer from the birthday party for summer camp information, which was unreasonable considering the long time gap between the events.
She also scolded me for not having common sense to go to the website. Fine, perhaps I missed the obvious fact that the information might be on the website, but I am a working, busy mom of young children. I can be scattered and overwhelmed at times and I rely on good customer service to guide me in the right direction and keep me on track. Not to mention, sometimes I appreciate the convenience of a really good company who still offers a lot of help through a phone call and talking to someone live. In the end, the information on the website was outdated, turns out my 3.5-year-old no longer needed a doctors permission, this demonstrated a lack of attention to detail and keeping their communication up-to-date.
As a working mother of two young children new to the summer camp experience, I expected more guidance and support from KNW. Unfortunately, I felt let down and unsupported during this process. It's a shame that the lack of customer service led me to make the difficult decision not to send my kids to a camp they were excited about all summer. My request for a refund was met with a non- apologetic response of "it's fine to not send your kids, we are on a waiting list and I will fill it fast".
While KNW may have a long-standing history, their handling of communication and customer support in my particular situation was disappointing, leaving much to be desired. As a result, I am unable to wholeheartedly recommend their summer camp program and I will not be booking anymore birthday parties for my kids.
